New UGA council to assess threats

Posted: Wednesday, March 19, 2008

The University of Georgia has named eight people to a council that will have the power to decide whether a student is dangerous and try to prevent a tragedy like the April mass shooting at Virginia Tech, which left 33 people dead.

Creation of the so-called Behavioral Assessment and Response Council, or BARC, was the top recommendation of one of two campus committees UGA President Michael Adams appointed in the wake of the Virginia Tech massacre.

When a student is referred to the council, members will evaluate his or her behavior to see whether the student is a threat to harm "himself or others, is unduly disruptive to the campus learning environment, or is otherwise demonstrably inconsistent with the university's educational mission," according to an announcement UGA released Tuesday afternoon.

If the council finds one of those conditions, the council can bar the student from campus or order him or her to submit to a psychological assessment.

Students may be referred to the council if they threaten or hurt someone else, repeatedly disrupt class, abuse substances, try to commit suicide or say they intend to, or show emotional distress or anxiety, according to UGA's announcement.

The September committee report called for a council to evaluate student, faculty and staff behavior, but the group announced Tuesday will deal only with students, at least for now.

UGA Provost Arnett Mace charged the council with developing a plan to deal with the behavior of UGA faculty and staff, which could mean creating another council.

The BARC also will develop specific procedures and guidelines, such as describing behavior that will warrant a referral to the council, said UGA Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Rodney Bennett, who will chair the council.

"We have bits and pieces of a protocol," Bennett said Tuesday.

The group sometimes will have a "tough, complex" job balancing the rights of individual students with the safety of others, he said.

"We want each member of our community to be safe at all times, but we also want to be sure we are interacting with students in a way that's fair to them and their families," he said. "Our goal is to interact with each student that finds himself or herself before the group with a great sense of caring and concern and compassion, and that we interact with them with dignity - as well as with people who unfortunately may become a victim through no fault of their own."